Hi everyone,

My triplets angels were born last year, and we had a singleton (Benjamin) in April. Benjamin failed 3 newborn hearing screens in a row, and at 8 weeks old, was diagnosed with bilateral profound hearing loss (according to the ABR). He has had hearing aids for a week and a half now and doesn't seem to be responding. He begins speech therapy tomorrow, and at this point, we are basically waiting until he is old enough for a cochlear implant. He's a happy baby and believe me - after losing the triplets - we can handle this! Although I can find lots of information, I'm having trouble finding an online support group for parents of deaf babies. I was just curious if there were any triplet moms of deaf children who are pursuing the hearing/spoken language route and not sign language.

Thanks for reading

Andrea

Mom to triplet angels born too soon on March 30, 2007 @ 21w6d
^Oliver Jonathan^
^Avery Lauren^
^Thomas Andrew^

and blessed with Benjamin Reilly on April 8, 2008 @ 39wks
8lb 1oz

hi Andrea. my four year old daughter is deaf as well. we go in tomarrow for her pre-op appt for chochlear implants. YEAH I signed with her for forever, and she has chosen to read lips and speak, so sign is out. I still sign to get my point across, but she throws a tantrum if I tell her to sign. It is possible to pursue the spoken language route, and he will pick up on it as well. Make sure to discuss that with his speech therapist so she is on the same page as you. In my opinion, I would still teach him simple signs, so he can communicate before he learns to talk. Hope this helps.

Jessika mom of
identical GGG born 11.21.01
girl 7yrs
girl 6yrs
girl 5yrs
girl 3yrs
boy 9months

HI I have to make this short but will write more later. i can also give you a couple of sights that offer info on the cochlear implants. My son Preston is profound to severe in both ears. He just got a cochlear implant in April and it turned on in May. We have noticed a huge difference with him. He is still learning to listen and stuff but we are noticing him responding to sounds more. He always has in a way but now he is trying to figure out where it is coming from. Hayden which is my angel was also deaf we belive. He was getting ready to have a sedation ABR done when he passed away. He never passed any of the newborn hearing testing and failed a couple of ABR's. But we didn't push anything until they were suppose to have thier sedation ABR's since that gave them more of a accurate reading. Preston had hearing aids but didn't wear them very often. He also has cerebral palsy and is on the floor alot so the buzzing from then annoyed us and he did not like them. He does a lot better with the cochlear even knows it falls off alot. I forget how old you son is but start some signing with him. We have with maddie and preston maddie is hearing but likes to sign stuff as she says it. Preston will not sign for whatever reason so this was another reason why we went with the implant. Their is also another mommy on here that two of her triplets are deaf and have the implants.


Here are a couple of the sites i belong to that you can ask questions to and i will get you more with in the next couple of days i am getting ready to leave for work.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Listen-Up/



http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cicircle/messages?o=1


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cikids/


Hope these help some.

Jaclyn

Jaclyn

http://thesheridangang.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for responding!

Jaclyn,
I will check out the links you suggested. I remember when Hayden passed away, and I am so sorry for your loss of your angel. I often wonder if our triplets were deaf also. We haven't had any genetic testing done yet, but we will - if just to understand the probability of having another deaf child. Anyway, Benjamin is only 4 months old, so signing isn't very useful at this stage. He's 2 weeks into a 3 month trial period with the hearing aids, and he doesn't seem to be responding yet - at least he didnt in the sound booth this morning. If he doesn't respond after cranking up the amplification a few more times, and they determine he's a candidate for the implant, he'll get it right after he turns 1 (8-9 months from now!).

Jessika, I hope all goes/went well with the surgery for your 4 yr old. I'd be very interested to hear about it!

kind wishes.
Andrea

Mom to triplet angels born too soon on March 30, 2007 @ 21w6d
^Oliver Jonathan^
^Avery Lauren^
^Thomas Andrew^

and blessed with Benjamin Reilly on April 8, 2008 @ 39wks
8lb 1oz

I have a son with bilateral cochlear implants. I don't post on hear often but would LOVE to share our wonderful experience. You can email my privately at jennifer.wallace27@verizon.net.

I also keep a blog about our family and share many stories regarding Cormac.

thelawrencetriplets.blogspot.com

www.myliltees.com

Mom to Ciaran Thomas, Colin Francis and Cormac Robert. Born at 31.5 weeks.

http://lilypie.com>

Hey Andrea, My son also has bilateral profound hearing loss. Right now we have him in high powered hearing aids and really never reacts to noise. I always new something was off with him fro the start but was always told he was fine. He failed 3 newborn screenings and passed a click ABR. Well later after a second ABR 5 months later, we found out that the computer with the first ABR wasn't working correctly. We have now had him in hearing aids since )they don’t work for Colton) June and plan to have the Cochlear implant surgery done in Jan.
We have been using signs with him since June. He has yet to actually sign a work but when he is trying to get something across to us he really uses his hands. I have been told that he is baby talking with his hands. We are not doing American Sign Language but more of a baby talk sign language. How old is Benjamin? My baby Colton is almost 15 months. My Dr's say that they are going to hold off on speech therapy until after we get the implants.
I really don't have any advice; I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone. And if you do find a good support group online then please let me know. Or if you just want to compare notes I am here!!

Thanks!!

Tanna

06/22/07 29 weeks 4 days
Lincoln 2 lbs 13 oz
Colton 2 lbs 14.4 oz
Dakota 2 lbs 11oz
http://tannastriplets.blogspot.com/